Crime Stories

This collection features twenty short stories from humorous thriller writer J.A. Konrath. Included are a few hardboiled tales, some noir, some parody and satire, a few straight-out comedy pieces, and a few stories that didn''t fit into Konrath''s other two collections, Horror Stories and Jack Daniels Stories.

The twenty stories include:

The Big Guys - Flash fiction, winner of the Derringer Award.

A Fistful of Cozy - A satire of the mystery cozy genre.

Cleansing - An ancient crime of biblical proportions.

Lying Eyes - Solve it yourself, given the clues.

Perfect Plan - Another solve it yourself. Don''t you remember One Minute Mysteries and Encyclopedia Brown?

Piece of Cake - Another solve it yourself, originally featured in Woman''s World.

Animal Attraction - Solve it yourself.

Urgent Reply Needed - A cautionary tale about dealing with spammers.

Blaine''s Deal - A parody of hardboiled noir.

Light Drizzle - A light-hearted send-up of hitman stories.

An Archaeologist''s Story - How digging up old bones leads to fresh corpses.

Don''t Press That Button! - An essay about the gadgets in the James Bond universe, and which you need to buy.

Piranha Pool - A writer seeking criticism pays the ultimate price.

A Newbie''s Guide to Thrillerfest - Never been to a mystery conference? Here''s the in-depth dirt.

Inspector Oxnard - He''s either brilliant, or too stupid to breathe.

One Night Only - A sports fan ends up in jail, all for the love of the game.

Could Stephanie Plum Car Really Get Car Insurance? - An essay about Janet Evanovich''s famous character.

Cozy or Hardboiled? - Take the test to find out which type of book you''re reading.

Addiction - What''s the worst drug you can get hung up on?

Weigh To Go - A humor column about health clubs.